SURF - MOROCCO
Surf - Morocco - Luxury Travel Magazine
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Making Waves in Morocco | |||||
| By: Beatrice Spence, Issue 42 – Autumn 2010 | |||||
| (Surfing Morocco) | |||||
| FIRST TIME SURFER BEATRICE SPENCE TESTED THE WORLD-CLASS SURFING WATERS OF MOROCCO. | |||||
| I had finally succumbed to my husband ‘s urging to give surfing a go and since Morocco has world-class surfing spots, we planned to set off together for a 10-day surfing tour there. We set about searching for a surf tour company to arrange the details and found Surf Maroc, a small company that was set up a decade ago by two Englishmen, Oliver Boswell and Ben O’Hara, who spent their university holidays surfing in Morocco and saw a market for surf camps. Having recently added the upmarket Villa Mandala to it’s two original hotels (l’auberge and Taghazout villa), Surf Moroc is, as far as we could tell, one of very few upmarket surf holiday options in Morocco. Apparently built by the French chef to the King of Morocco, Villa Mandela is situated right on Banana Point beach (a 30 minute drive from Agadir, a town that is the hub for Moroccan coastal holidays and where there is an international airport with regular flights from Europe) and has rooms for up to 16 guests at any one time. The ground floor of the villa is an enormous open living area decorated with local antiques and rugs and couches for exhausted surfers to disappear into after a heavy session. A large dining table gathers the guests for evening communal meals of local produce. During our stay there were German and English families with teenagers, a couple who became engaged on the Villa’s roof top on New Year’s Eve and a group of architects, designers and artists from England. All-inclusive stays at Villa Mandela include meals, surfboard and wetsuit hire, lessons and transport to and from the best surf spots. Our hosts at the villa, Hugo Boswell (Oliver’s little brother), and his French girlfriend Mel were impeccable, pointing surfers in the right direction for the best waves, spending hours assisting guests rebooking flights when European airports are in havoc due to snow, and generally trying to make sure everyone has a wonderful time. I went to my first surf lesson with great trepidation thinking this was a sport best learned by 16-year-olds despite the variety of fellow beginner surfer guests I had met. My instructor had taught surfing for 10 years and his patient and clear instruction meant that by the end of the lesson I actually could imagine that one day I would stand up on a board even if it wasn’t to happen quite then and there. I had enough fun to make sure that I will be trying this sport again. Despite mixed conditions, my husband Dan had some good surfs and enjoyed meeting like-minded surfie/arty blokes who he’ll be hooking up with again in London for a weekend soon. For when the surf conditions aren’t great quad bike riding, hiking, and horse riding are popular activities in the area and Surf Maoroc will recommend companies to use. At Villa Mandala there are evening yoga sessions in the roof pavilion conducted by qualified instructors as well as a traditional wood fired hamman (Moroccan sauna and massage facility) in the villa with professional masseuses on hand. If you feel like going out for dinner, Taghazout, a laid back fishing village with some good cafes, is a 5 minute drive away. You can listen to the call to prayer in Taghazout. A two-hour drive away is the very pretty UNESCO listed fishing village of Essaouira which is certainly worth at least an overnight stay within the medina behind the 18th century fortified walls. On the drive there keep an eye out for the unusual site of goats climbing the Argan trees. | |||||
| Details: | |||||
| Surf Morocco | |||||
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